Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters Read Free Book Online Page A

tripping Kirsten. Dayna took the puck behind the net, going deep. Her eyes darted around until they found me.
    I dropped into the slot in front of Seth. He was wary. Seth had great instincts and he knew my best moves. As Dayna drove to the neutral zone, she passed to me.
    Seth crouched. I decked him and fired in a backhand. Seth dove for it, face first, but the puck slid under him and into the net.
    Red team cheered like we'd won the Stanley Cup.
    Dayna skated up to me for a high five. As I glided past Seth, still splayed on the ice, I heard him mutter, "Fuck." I bent, picked up the puck, and dropped it on his back. "I think you mean 'puck.'"
    He grabbed my ankle and tried to pull me down, but I escaped. He scrabbled to his feet and chased me around the ice, pushing me into a snow bank at the opposite end. We rubbed snow into each other's faces, laughing and wrestling around. Seth pinned my arms and rolled over on top of me. Kissing me. Kept up the pressure until I was struggling to breathe. "Get off," I ordered.
    "What?" he said, looking bewildered. He pushed to his knees. "Did I hurt you?"
    "No." Yes. I scrambled to my feet. He always has to ruin it, I thought. We could never just have fun.
    Coop skated up to us and said to Seth, "We're starting another game. Red team's one short. You or Holland in?"
    Seth queried me. "Holl?"
    "I'm done," I said, digging snow out of the collar of my parka. "You go on. I need to spend some time with Leah."
    He brushed powder off the back of my head, then left.
    I found Leah at the outdoor fireplace where she and Kirsten were warming their hands. Leah said, "Good game. I just saw the end where you scored."
    Kirsten murmured, "We'd have won if it wasn't for that dyke."
    I slowly turned to face Kirsten. "Excuse me?"
    She met my eyes and curled a lip.
    "If you mean Dayna, she's one hell of an athlete."
    Kirsten snorted. "Yeah, they all are."
    "What is that supposed to mean?"
    "Hey." Leah put a hand on my arm. "It's getting cold. Let's go in Trevor said he'd save us a table in the snack bar."
    "Speaking of Travor," I said, removing my stiff mittens. "People are starting to talk."
    Kirsten's head shot up. "About what?"
    "Guess."
    Her eyes slit. She leaned her face into mine and said, "Why don't you tell me?"
    Shit. I shouldn't have started this. She might as well know the truth, though. "They're saying you're a player."
    Kirsten expelled a short breath. "Really." Her jaw clenched. "Well, whoever they are, they can go fuck themselves." She skated off toward the entrance.
    Leah sighed. "Holland –"
    "I know," My head lolled back. "Open oven, insert head."
    Leah ran her skate blade and forth along the ice. "She thinks you judge her."
    "I don't." Blood rushed to my face. Do I? Maybe I do. "I'm her friend, Leah. I thought she should know. I'm only trying to protect her." Right, Holland. You're so noble. You should alienate your friends with the truth more often. I let out a long, visible breath. "I'll call her tonight and apologise."
    “Thank you,” Leah said. She hated when brush fires flared between Kirsten and me. Thank God she was always there to douse the flames. It made me wonder how Kirsten and I had stayed friends for so long. We’d known each other since eighth grade, when she and her mom moved here from Texas after her parents first split. Kirs was pretty messed up then. She really wanted to live with her dad, but he’d moved in with his girlfriend and having a kid around would put too much of a crimp in his style. He never called her; not even on her birthday. We got to talking and discovered we had the “fatherless” thing in common.
    Kirsten was fun to be around. Wild and crazy, sort of reckless. Unlike me, Ms. Boring and Predictable.
    Leah started for the entrance and I caught up. “Are you all right?” I nudged her shoulder with mine. “You seem a little distant, to quote Kirs.”
    Leah smiled. “I’m fine.”
    “Sure?”
    She opened her mouth, then shut it. Gazing wistfully